Local News

Police point to discipline problems for teacher arrest

BAKER- Police are pointing to discipline problems at Baker Middle School as a reason one teacher may have taken discipline into her own hands.

Deborah Anderson was arrested and charged with simple battery after police say she grabbed a student's shirt and 'yanked' him into the hallway because his uniform wasn't tucked in.

"In that school, so much is ignored that the bar is set so high before it's a non-tolerance level, that it's almost impossible for teachers to have a fair shot at teaching a full class without having any disciplinary problems," said Chief Mike Knaps, with the Baker Police Department.

The incident has teacher's unions wondering where the line of discipline starts and stops.

"If indeed what we have here is a teacher that grabbed a student either by the arm or by the shirt, and that is going to be defined as a battery, then that's a disturbing message to teachers in contemporary America," said Steve Monaghan, with the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

"If they had the proper discipline the teacher would not have had to have been the disciplinarian and she could have taught the class like she was hired to do," said Chief Knaps.

A family member told News 2 Anderson was away from school today and will be on leave.